Plagiarism Response

summary, passage connected.

While reading this article I felt a certain sadness in its truth. My generation is run out of originality and uniqueness. I find this statement most certainly evident in my school and with my peers. Even in a small town such as Springfield, the amount of times I am aware that a student is cheating or plagiarizing is shocking. I will be honest, it has crossed my mind. I have late homework assignments and essays piling up on my dresser, and I am scheduled to work a closing shift every night of the week, It crosses my mind to cheat a little. You tell yourself, "Who is it going to hurt?", and in fact when the level of stress won't seem to give, it doesn't feel like it will hurt anyone. But in fact it is harming yourself the most, you are cheating yourself of originality and integrity. With myself I believe the problem is growing up in a low income household, I have convinced myself that to be extraordinarily successful is the only escape from being low income for the rest of my life. The result of this alienation is, me taking seven courses of honors or AP classes. Maybe this load is possible for a student who does not have to hold a job, or provide basic necessities for their self. While over loading myself with these classes, at semester I am thinking to your self, "What have I gotten myself into?". With this thought, also comes along thought of ways to make it out of these classes while still getting a decent GPA. Cheating and plagiarizing is not taboo, therefore, they come along and tantalize students like me. Thankfully I am to afraid to plagiarize, but that shouldn't be my motive for not plagiarizing. My motive should be integrity. I am aware that many student who plagiarize are simply to lazy to try and write their own paper, and if so I think the biggest consequence for them will be, passing through high school and getting good grades, then enter college and not being to cheat their way through classes and eventually dropping out of college.

The article I read basically was an analyzes of plagiarism in the 21st century. The idea of non-intentional plagiarism, and why the Internet is blurring the lines of originality.

         “Writing is difficult, and doing it well takes time and practice,” Donald J. Dudley said.
I really connected to this quote, because it evident in my writing. Teachers honestly believe their students have this wealth of creativity that is just waiting to be unhinged and poured out in assignments. I don't know what could be any less true. Being a student myself, not only am I 95% of the time confused about the rules of writing and how to write a good paper, I sit down and hold my pencil above my paper for an endless amount of time, waiting for this magical wealth of creativity teachers have convinced me I have, to pour out. And when I do creative ideas they come out in bits and pieces and don't fit together in a "introduction, body paragraph, conclusion" style. I have heard that what brain storming is for, but when I am writing I lose track, then I reread it and I want to start over. Writing is definitely not easy, and doesn't come naturally for most high school students. I believe writing in high school has this attitude of, give a student a writing assignment 20 times and by the end he will have learned what he needed to write a good paper. This is the worst approach to writing. This example student will probably become bitter about writing and not end up writing very well. Practice does make perfect, but writing is an art, that needs close cultivation and instruction. When given an writing assignment, it should only be worked on in class and the student should be on individual due date. Some student write faster or honestly are more creative. Another abuse of writing in the overused research essay, that is abused in almost every subject. I can guarantee that almost every student sees class essays outside of English classes as punishment. Teachers should allow cultivation of the writing skill to emerge through many field of writing, not singularly essays. If this was done so, before composition course were needed to be taken, maybe the student would be more open to different styles and new ideas.  

Sample Project Response

The topic of the project I chose to evaluate was being a student teacher in the 21st century.
The author used photographs, To-Do lists, Emails, Class room layout visual, Dialogue, an edited song, notes, multi-perspective chart, a poem, Venn-Diagram, personal stories, and a few other additions. I think the author was very effective on giving a whole view on her topic. The author could have used more photography, but otherwise she was effective in her variety in genres. The author provided over 11 different pieces to her multi-genre project. 
The section of the authors project that discussed Smart boards required research on Smart boards. The Venn-Diagram must have required research over what and how fiance majors in Miami go through to graduate. Lastly, the section that discussed special education teaching must of required research as well.
The story about how the author grew up wanting to be a teacher and finally achieving that dream came from her own personal life. Her poem about who Ms. Issac is, and her recreation of a song came from her own imagination. As well, the chart of hypocrite teachers came from her own imagination.
I don't feel like the author transitioned very smoothly in each piece. The project was just slid after slid, with no real flow. Besides staying on topic of being a teacher, the transitions were messy.
The transitions were not effective, because each piece just stopped and began. There wasn't a flow. I think with the idea of all her pieces it was difficult to make a beginning and an end for her topic.
The author gave me the impression that she is an honest, imperfect, real person. She style was not formal, but it was neat and organized. Her voice really showed the reader who she was and what she values. The project was extremely creative, and the author provided pieces to her work that were thinking outside the box. The depth was adequate, but I felt like it could go deeper. I did not exactly learn new information, but I gained insight into the field of teaching and how teachers feel.
The formatting was slight jumbled. The font changed often, which provided it to be easier to read. The appeal was moderate, it lacked color and favor in the sense of writing, but it was not bland.
Some idea I took away from this project was to use out of the box pieces, and to be more creative.

Being Memorable Response

Joe Romm's article seems to give the reader the key to success in life. Who doesn't want to be remember for their ideas and/or writing? The articles main idea is the explanation of how people make their selves remembered for ages. Of some of those people Joe uses for examples are; Jesus, Lady Gaga, and Churchill. The article explains and proves that, in fact, who doesn't remember these three people? The act of repetition and rhyming are keys to making headlines or music extremely memorable.

"Few skills are more important for success at work and life than the ability to be persuasive and memorable. And yet the tricks for effective speaking and writing, which have been known for twenty-five centuries and verified by modern social science research, are hardly taught today."

This passage made the most impact on me, because at my job being memorable and persuasive is essential to moving up to a promotion.